1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of integrated circuit design and testing. In one aspect, the present invention relates to an improved method, system and apparatus for a simulating a digital circuit, such as a modem or baseband processing unit in a mobile phone.
2. Description of the Related Art
Integrated circuits are typically designed by starting off with a higher or abstracted level description of a design, and then developing more detailed level descriptions (such as RTL and Schematic) of the design, resulting in a detailed description of the circuit design. As part of the design process, it may be necessary to simulate all or part of an integrated circuit design in order to verify that the circuit design works properly. As integrated circuits are produced with greater and greater levels of circuit density and complexity, the circuit designs are increasingly broken into subparts or modules which are separately designed and verified. Conventional approaches for verifying the functional performance of a circuit design include performing simulations using a software model for the entire circuit design. While there are verification tools available to assist with the design of large and complex electronic systems (such as digital multi-processor systems), such tools may not be able to simulate only part of the circuit design. In addition, such digital circuit verification tools are not particularly well suited for simulating analog components. This can be a problem if a circuit design simulation relies on stimulus input from an analog circuit, in which case the simulation is only as good as the data generated by the analog circuit simulator. Another potential problem with conventional design techniques arises when a model for a first module in the circuit is completed before a model for, a second, required module is ready, thereby delaying the simulation of the first module until the model for the second module is completed.
Therefore, a need exists for an improved simulation tool and methodology for use in verifying the design and operation of digital circuit modules in a wireless communications device. Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional systems will become apparent to one of skill in the art after reviewing the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings and detailed description which follow.